The R and D D's bearing test benches

In power generation plants, rotating machines are involved in energy transformation processes and safety systems. The bearings supporting the rotors and the thrust bearings play a crucial role in the reliability of these machines. The phenomena encountered straddle several disciplines: hydrodynamics, tribology, thermomechanics, materials and vibrations in a specific environment, namely: thin fluid film, solid mechanical components and shaft rotation. Means of analysing the behaviour of these components (bearings and thrust bearings) have been developed and implemented. These consists of the EDYOS (Etude Dynamique des Organes de Supportage) code for dynamically studying bearing devices and several related bench tests. In reality, in order to understand the complex physical phenomena encountered in these components, it is vital to carry out analyses and experimental validations. Since these investigations cannot be carried out on actual machines, test benches have been built which can subject the sample bearings to the equivalent stresses. (author)